Rural Fresh Delivery: Popular CSA [Farms] Ready for Growing Season (WI)

Yet another sure sign that spring is here: It's time to sign up for a growing season's worth of fresh food from local farms offering community supported agriculture (CSA) shares.

This year, 11 new farms joined the Madison Area Community Supported Agriculture Coalition (MACSAC), which will hold its annual open house March 29 at Olbrich Gardens. Go to www.macsac.org for event details.

That's about a 30 percent boost in the organization's membership, which links people to producers through a host of services. MACSAC's 34 member farms offer a wide range of direct-to-consumer products ranging from vegetables of all kinds to meat to even coffee and wool.

MACSAC Coordinator Erin Schneider estimates that some 12,000 people in southern Wisconsin buy fresh, local food from farmers offering CSA shares. A common share includes weekly or every-other-week boxes of farm-produced food, usually dropped off for customer pickup at a variety of local sites.

The growth in MACSAC's membership speaks to a growing trend of consumers looking for a more direct link to their food, Schnieder said.

"People are seeking a re-connection to where their food comes from and a connection to place," Schneider said. "CSAs are a great entry point to that."

Several health insurance providers offer rebates of $50 to $300 to individuals and families that buy CSA shares (www.macsac.org/rebates.html). New this year are Dean Health Plan and Group Health Cooperative, which join Unity Health Insurance, which ran a pilot CSA reimbursement program last year.

Physicians Plus pioneered its Eat Healthy Rebate, which grew in participation from 96 subscribers in a 2005 pilot to 1,272 last year. The program's popularity is expected to grow again this year, a direct result of additional farms in the MACSAC group.

Some farms new to MACSAC have pilot CSA programs this year. Others joined to expand the reach of their program.

A look at three farms new to MACSAC this year illustrates their variety in enterprise and product mix. To learn more details about the individual CSA options for each farm, go to each farms' own Web site. Information on all MACSAC CSA farms is on the organization's site.

Brothers Rufus and Jay Haucke took over their parents' 200-acre dairy farm in 2002. There, they milk 30 Holstein and Jersey cows and grow six acres of organic vegetables they have sold to organic food markets, direct to consumers.

The farm became certified organic in 2004 and, last year, was part of a pilot to create a local fair trade network and labeling system for farmers, farm workers and retailers selling their product.

The Local Fair Trade Network (www.localfairtrade.org) is based on principles developed in international Fair Trade movements that have become successful bringing fair wages to farmers selling coffee, cocoa and other goods.

The CSA business model is a great example of how well local fair trade can work, said network organizer Erik Esse. It provides funds up front in the spring for farmers.

For Rufus Haucke, local fair trade is a way of quantifying the social aspect of food.

"You look at the CSA model, and that's the most pure form of commerce," Haucke said. "There's no middle man, and you have direct contact with a grower."

Keewaydin is expanding its CSA offerings this year by joining MACSAC, selling 100 shares, up from 30 shares last year. Shares include produce, flowers, coffee from Equal Exchange and Otter Creek Farms meat.

"On a farm level, I want to connect more with consumers, and a CSA model is really the way to do it," Haucke said. "It really is that ultimate connection we have to our customers."

Shares of fresh lamb as well as other meat and wool are available from Hillspring. After raising heritage meats using organic methods for 10 years, Linda Derrickson and Mark Kessenich this year launch their CSA program.

The farm plans to sell 30 to 40 meat shares this year, in addition to 10 wool shares. Additional products -- eggs, honey and raw goat's milk -- will also be available for purchase.

"We decided we wanted to have more of a relationship with our customers," Derrickson said of starting to sell shares. "We focus on meat partly because it is higher up on the food chain and meat is healthier when you know how (animals) were raised."

Hillspring uses organic practices in raising pasture-fed Scottish Highland cattle and Jacob and Tunis sheep breeds.

"Lambs born three days ago are out in the pasture with their moms. When a blade of grass comes up, they'll have it," Derrickson explained. "We also feed them hay grown in our fields to add minerals and nutrition."

Wool shares include two heritage fleeces, ready to spin or braid with on-farm fiber school instruction included.

Just seven miles east of Madison, George Kohn grows a wide variety of certified organic vegetables and flowers on 40 acres of sloping farmland.

In this CSA pilot year, Kohn will offer 30 shares to people who he'll see weekly at his farm.

"This fits in with our philosophy," Kohn said. "We want people to come out and enjoy the farm to see where their food comes from. It helps all of us to be closer to our customers, too."

Share holders will pick up their produce weekly, buffet style, in a restored barn directly on the farm. There, they'll have the opportunity to bring along friends and neighbors, where all will have access to additional products for sale displayed farmers' market style.

West Star's proximity to Madison enables this customer-to-farm connection, allowing Kohn to take advantage of customer feedback on a regular basis.

"It's a two-way relationship," Kohn said. "We get ideas from our customers. A lot of why we grow certain varieties of vegetables is because it was suggested by customers."

FWIW, there is a boatload of CASH to be made in these ventures. The “Fair Trade” and the “Certified Organic” stuff is marketing BS, to be sure...but I’ve made a ton of cash on fresh raspberries, pumpkins, tomato, pepper & herb plants, fresh eggs, garlic, homemade pesto, potted trees & perennials, jams & jellies, etc. over the years. It wasn’t uncommon for my in-laws and I to make $3K on a Saturday selling raspberries. (Granted, the week beforehand of picking for 8 hours a day wasn’t all that much fun, LOL!)

In fact, a guy I worked with left us a few months ago. His goat dairy operation now makes him enough money to easily support his wife and child. They sell about 500 lbs. of milk a week to local dairies who make the milk into cheese. They get paid for the milk, and also get back cheese which they label as their own and sell at market. He also does two local Farmer’s Markets and makes a killing each week in season on his cheeses and fresh veggies. The wife is now dabbling in goats milk soaps, and I’ve tried them; they are lovely!

If you have the time and space to do some of this, consider it. It truly IS the time to get on the bandwagon. You don’t have to be a Hippie to do this, anymore, LOL!

Capitalism Rocks! :)

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